Roll call

Columbia City Council met at 9 am, Wednesday, December 3, 2008, on the third floor of City Hall. All council members were present: Kirkman Finlay III, Tameika Isaac Devine, E.W. Cromartie, Mayor Bob Coble, Sam Davis, Daniel Rickenmann, and Belinda Gergel.

2009/2010 budget

Without any dollar amounts, priorities for the next year's budget were itemized under three main goals:

(1) To enhance the quality of life of the City of Columbia for all citizens, customers, and visitors.

(2) To enhance and protect our natural and built infrastructure.

(3) To enhance Columbia's future role as the flagship municipality in South Carolina through the use of best practices for local government operations.

(4) To grow the city's tax base by facilitating opportunities for citizens and future generations to reach their full economic, social and cultural potential.

Central Midlands

Council approved the appointment of Tommy Windsor, enforcement specialist for the SC Attorney General, to the Board of Directors of the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority.

Columbia Tree and Appearance Commission

Don McInnes, Leslie Ann Minerd, and Ken Walden were approved as recommended for the Columbia Tree and Appearance Commission. DDRC

Mindy Taylor was discussed as a potential member of the Design Development Review Commission, but council held off any vote until December 10.

Planning Commission

Mary Winter Teaster was recommended by Finlay to replace the departing Billy Way on the Planning Commission. Mayor Coble seconded the nomination and council voted to confirm.

City manager's report

City Manager Charles Austin announced his reading of Police Chief Tandy Carter's draft report on his plans for the department. The full and final report will be reviewed December 10, which will include insights on recruitment and retention of officers and the restructuring of the department. Chief Carter is calling for 50 more officers, but Devine expressed concerns over the recently departed 20 officers. In other words, 70 new officers are needed.

Austin then reviewed the latest developments in the city's new interactive Web site, particularly as a means for citizens to pay bills to the city. Austin's idea was to locate two experimental kiosks where citizens can come down to either Washington Square or City Hall to test out the software. Devine didn't understand the strategy to ask citizens to come down to Main Street to test out software designed for remote use in an office or in a home. She didn't see the possibility of many takers in the test phase. The test phase, then, is to be worked out. Carmen Fleming walked council through the new Web site.

Austin reminded council of the retreat to be held in early 2009. Where and when are still to be determined, but everyone agreed on a venue within a 50- mile range. Rickenmann recommended an inquiry at the Riley Institute at Furman University for training in teamwork and diversity, and Gergel suggested Columbia College be checked out for a similar program in its Leadership Institute. By the first week of January, Austin said, all decisions should be made on the retreat. Rickenmann volunteered to cook.

Housing first

Dr. David Parker of USC and Nancy Stoudemire of the Columbia Housing Authority fielded questions on Housing First, an idea to reduce the number of homeless in town through single- occupancy rental units. Parker said his recent survey of his clients told him 76% were from Richland County. In Columbia, there are 42 service providers for the homeless. Columbia is the largest city in the U.S. without an adequate homeless shelter. There are about 1,300 homeless in the Columbia area. Finlay worried that the 1,300, at an average daily expense of $60 cited by Parker, meant more than $28 million annually taken from the city's budget.

Next meeting

Council convenes for a work session on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 9 am and a regular session on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 9 am, both on the third floor of City Hall, corner of Laurens and Main.